Burst photos on iPhone, from shooting to tidying up

How to take a burst

Apple describes burst mode as taking multiple high-speed photos so you have a range to choose from when your subject is moving. On recent iPhones there are two ways to start one.

• Slide the shutter. In Photo mode, slide the shutter button to the left and hold. The counter shows how many frames you have taken. Let go to stop. Sliding to the right instead starts a video on many models, so watch the direction.
• Use the volume button. Turn on Use Volume Up for Burst in the Camera section of Settings. Holding the volume up button then takes a burst rather than a video.

The camera interface changes between iOS versions, so if the slide does not work, check Apple's iPhone User Guide for your version.

Bursts work best in good light with a moving subject. In dim light the frames tend to blur, and a single photo or a short video often captures the moment better.

Pick the keepers

1. Open the burst in Photos. It shows one cover image with a burst label.
2. Tap Select to open the frame picker.
3. Swipe through and tick each frame you want to keep. The frames with small dots underneath are the ones the iPhone suggests.
4. Tap Done and choose Keep Only Favorites.

Your chosen frames become normal photos in the Library, and the rest move to Recently Deleted, where they wait 30 days. Choosing Keep Everything keeps your favorites as separate photos and leaves the whole burst in place, which saves nothing.

Find bursts you forgot about

Many people take bursts by accident, especially when the shutter slide was new. Open Photos, scroll to Media Types, and tap Bursts to see every stack in one place. Each one may hold dozens of nearly identical frames.

Going through that view once is often one of the quickest cleanups you can do. Work oldest first: for a moment from years ago, the single best frame is usually all you want. For bursts that turned out badly, delete the whole stack from the grid.

Bursts look small in the library because only the cover shows. Each hidden frame is a full photo, and with iCloud Photos on, each one also counts toward your iCloud storage.

Stop bursts piling up

Some people also confuse bursts with Live Photos, which add a short video clip to a single photo. They are different features, and both add weight to a library. Our guide to Live Photos covers when it makes sense to turn them off.

Switching to the volume button method helps if you keep triggering bursts with a sideways slip of the thumb. It also helps to pick favorites the same day, while you remember which moment mattered.

If bursts are part of a bigger mess of near-duplicates, our guide to duplicate photos covers exact copies, and deleting photos in bulk shows how to select large runs safely. For space in general, checking your storage shows how big your Photos library really is.